Language Modeling by Clustering with Word Embeddings for Text Readability Assessment

We present a clustering-based language model using word embeddings for text readability prediction. Presumably, an Euclidean semantic space hypothesis holds true for word embeddings whose training is done by observing word co-occurrences. We argue that clustering with word embeddings in the metric space should yield feature representations in a higher semantic space appropriate for text regression. Also, by representing features in terms of histograms, our approach can naturally address documents of varying lengths. An empirical evaluation using the Common Core Standards corpus reveals that the features formed on our clustering-based language model significantly improve the previously known results for the same corpus in readability prediction. We also evaluate the task of sentence matching based on semantic relatedness using the Wiki-SimpleWiki corpus and find that our features lead to superior matching performance

Technology Corner: A Regular Expression Training App

Regular expressions enable digital forensic analysts to find information in files. The best way for an analyst to become proficient in writing regular expressions is to practice. This paper presents the code for an app that allows an analyst to practice writing regular expressions

Synthesizing an Autonomous Business Out of Social Parts: A Cognitive Analysis

A programmable autonomous business is a novel kind of business built entirely in software that is functionally indistinguishable from a conventional business—acquiring customers, providing a product to those customers, and making an actual profit for doing so. The difference is that the autonomous business has no employees or managers guiding it; all operations are automated in software. While we know that autonomous businesses are possible, we do not understand why. To address this issue I analyze a basic autonomous business as a distributed cognitive system. I show that an autonomous business is composed of a rather mundane set of social practices whose performance is mediated by online technology. These social practices when performed offline have nothing to do with business. However, the synthesis of these technological-mediated social practices results in the emergence of an autonomous business. I discuss why mediating the performance of these social practices with online technologies allows them to instantiate business processes, and conclude by describing the practical applications of the findings and outlining areas for future research

Technology Corner: Virtual Crime Scene Reconstruction: The Basics of 3D Modeling

Digital crime scenes take place in the context of physical crime scenes. Virtual crime scene reconstruction is an activity where investigators create a 3- dimensional (3-D) model of an actual crime scene for the purpose of determining the events that lead to the crime. While virtual crime scene reconstruction is currently used for analyzing physical scenes, it can also help investigators visualize and explore ways digital media could have been used to perpetrate a crime. In this technology corner we explore one of the technologies underlying virtual crime scene reconstruction: 3-D modeling

Technology Corner: Internet Packet Sniffers

The best way to understand an internet packet sniffer, hereafter “packet sniffer”, is by analogy with a wiretap. A wiretap is a piece of hardware that allows a person to eavesdrop on phone conversations over a telephone network. Similarly, a packet sniffer is a piece of software that allows a person to eavesdrop on computer communications over the internet. A packet sniffer can be used as a diagnostic tool by network administrators or as a spying tool by hackers who can use it to steal passwords and other private information from computer users. Whether you are a network administrator or information assurance specialist, it helps to have a detailed understanding of how packet sniffers work. And one of the best ways to acquire such an understanding is to build and modify an actual packet sniffer. But first, a disclaimer: the information contained in this paper is for educational purposes only—the use of packet sniffers to eavesdrop on private information is illegal, and violates the computer use policies of most organizations

Technology Corner: Brute Force Password Generation -- Basic Iterative and Recursive Algorithms

Most information systems are secured at minimum by some form of password protection. For various reasons a password may be unavailable, requiring some form of password recovery procedure. One such procedure is software-based automated password recovery, where a program attempts to log into a system by repeatedly trying different password combinations. At the core of such software is a password generator. This article describes the basic iterative and recursive algorithms for generating all possible passwords of a given length, which is commonly referred to as brute-force password generation. The paper ends with a discussion of alternative password recovery procedures one should attempt before brute-force password recovery

Geomorphological evolution of the calcareous coastal cliffs in North Iberia (Asturias and Cantabria regions)

This paper presents an analysis of the main morphologies observed in the coastal cliffs of northern Spain (Asturias and Cantabria regions). The objective of this contribution is to establish a hypothesis on the origin and evolution of this rocky coast, as well as to present a detailed inventory, to characterise quantitatively and qualitatively singular morphologies and to highlight the geological heritage of this protected coast. The evolution process starts with the formation of an ancient coastal planation surface characterised by a flat morphology caused by regional mainly uplift and to relative sea level falls. Afterwards, wave erosion processes would have started eroding the cliff foot and simultaneously, karst activity produced some exokarst morphologies (sinkholes, karren, etc.) through stratification and fracturing network, while the underground drainage systems produced some caves and chasms. In the following step, corresponding to the last glaciation from the paleoclimatic point of view, sea level fall together with a deepening of the fluvial network caused the preservation of the existing caves and chasms and the generation of new ones at a lower level. On the other hand, dissolution processes on limestones created sinkholes in those areas characterised by alternating layers of limestones and marls, generating collapses. When the sea level reached the maximum height during the Holocene a new erosion cycle of the coastal cliffs began. As a consequence, new landforms and processes were produced, like bays, caves fillings, and intrusion of new sediments in small confined estuaries. In these areas, other types of morphologies associated with the last sea level rise can be observed, such as closed beaches, uncommon closed estuaries developed inside a sinkhole, blowholes produced by mixed wave action and widening of prevailing vertical pipes inside the limestones (including the second largest in the world), total or partial sedimentary filling of small confined estuaries, as well as a tombolo deposit. It is important to point out, that some sites described are included in the Spanish Inventory of Sites of Geological Interest (IELIG). Due to the evolution model here proposed, a portion of the coastal sector described are included in the Global Geosites Project